COCONUT GROVE, Fla. – The cleanup and the investigation continued Monday after a blaze damaged four yachts in Coconut Grove early Saturday morning.
Hazmat cleanup crews spent much of the day containing diesel and debris so it wouldn't seep into Biscayne Bay. Just before noon Monday, an 85-foot luxury yacht named the Paranda was gingerly towed out of the marina.
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Paranda means "going out to a party in Spanish," but experts said the boat has seen its last party. Less than a year old, the $3 million yacht is totaled. The owner bought it for his children, but it rarely left the marina. Now, it is headed for the scrap heap, but getting it there isn't easy.
"Basically, we made a containment system around that boat, cleared out any pollution, opened up that system and closed it back up behind it," said Rand Pratt, of Sea Tow. "We also seized the shafts and propellers so they couldn't spin. Once we had everything in place, we had our four boats in their tactical positions to escort that boat out."
Two people were injured on the boat where the fire started, but both are expected to fully recover. They had some minor burns.
Cleanup crews said it is going to be a matter of days before they are finished. Now that they have the first boat taken out of the area, they already have the second boat floated. They said they want to pump a little more water off of it and tow it out of there Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, it will be several days before the boat where the fire started is out of there because crews have to float it, and then arson investigators are going to go through it top to bottom.
Determining the cause of the fire may take some time because of the extent of the damage, but everyone agreed the blaze could have been much worse.